United Nations: Surprised by the sudden advance of US forces in Baghdad and
rejoicing on its streets, Arab nations have decided to withdraw a request for a UN
General Assembly meeting on the war on Iraq.
They had submitted the request only on April 8 after they failed to get the 116-
member Non Aligned Movement (NAM) to join them in calling for the session.
The 28-member General Committee of the 191-member Assembly was to take up the
request on April 11, but it was overtaken by events rather suddenly.
However, some Arabs diplomats said they are only suspending their request and it
could be revived at a later stage.
The Arab group's chairman and Yemen's UN Ambassador Abdullah Alsaidi said on April 9
that the group would make another request for a meeting at an "appropriate time".
The group had planned to ask the Assembly to adopt a resolution, which would call
for a ceasefire and for ensuring sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq.
The request was sent by Alsaidi to Assembly president Jan Kavan of Czech Republic.
At the closed-door NAM meeting on April 7, diplomats said, several members opposed
calling the Assembly session because they argued that it might be difficult to get
overwhelming support for any resolution and that would prove embarrassing for them.
"They wanted to move a resolution in the 15-member Security Council at the end of
the debate two weeks, ago but could not get nine votes needed for adoption and had
to drop the idea," a senior diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
PTI
